The Problem with Ping-Pong
by Madhuri
Summary: When two kids are playing Ping-Pong down in the basement of their new home, the spot a rat that looks very suspicious... and eerily familiar.


  
  
A/N: A story that I wrote a long time ago when I was bored out of my mind. FF.net doesn't like the HTML coding, so this is in text format. I apologise if the asterixes irk you. Dedicated to the rat the lives in my basement with one paw looking suspiciously silvery. ::spooky music plays::  
  
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The Problem with Ping-Pong  
~~~  
  
I concentrated on nothing but the little white ball, trying to close off everything around me, focusing only on its movements, as I'd always been able to do during my tournaments. I scrutinised Aaron's movements as well, trying to gauge where he'd place his next shot. For a few moments, my hand moved almost automatically, effortlessly deflecting the ball while Aaron almost as easily projected it back. Then, for a split second, Aaron's wrist suddenly twisted, propelling the ball towards me, causing it to bounce on the edge of the table and spring wildly off in another direction, before my paddle could reach it.  
  
He smiled cheerfully. "Game!"  
  
I scowled as Aaron took a swig of water from a bottle he'd kept on the shelf. In frustration, I hurled the ball at the ceiling, and it bounced back hitting the creaky overhead lamp above the table, the only source of light in our dank basement where we were playing.   
  
I couldn't believe it. Aaron had won three games in a row. I was being bested by my little brother!  
  
Aaron wiped his mouth on his sleeve and picked up the rather old ball, examining it to see if it had any irksome dents. Satisfied, he walked back to the table, his round face cast into shadows by the eerie glare of the overhead lamp. "Another game?" he asked innocently. I nodded, narrowing my eyes.  
  
Aaron tossed the ball to begin. For a few seconds, we rallied smoothly, the only sound heard being the resonance of the ball bouncing, magnified many times by the echoes bouncing off the walls of our small, but cavernous, basement. Even leaving the door open at the top of the basement stairs didn't seem to provide an outlet for the sound. After a few more seconds, the ball hit my finger and went crashing into the net. Aaron grinned, picked up the ball, and patted his side of the table with his paddle. "You're serving and I'm staying on this side," he said, his face taking on a smug look.  
  
But no, Aaron couldn't look smug. He was so irritatingly clueless and nice that he probably didn't know such an expression existed.  
  
Still, I wished that I had won the toss and switched sides with him. It really was quite annoying where I was. I barely had space to move, as there was a large antique jukebox on one side and the basement stairs right behind me.  
  
We started to play, and gradually it grew more intense, with our rallies stretching on for longer periods of time. I hated to admit it, but Aaron and I really were quite well matched. Which was quite disturbing as he was only eight, and I was five years older than him, with a *lot* more experience. He looked quite different when he played, I noticed. His face took on an incredibly concentrated expression, and he seemed to be shut off to everything but the game. It was how I'd always wished I could be while competing, His focus didn't seem to waver even for a second. **If only I could break that**  
  
The game soon came to a tie- eight-all. I felt very frustrated. Aaron stooped to pick up the ball that had rolled into the corner, and suddenly stopped in mid-stoop looking at a point somewhere behind me.  
  
"Erica," he said, his voice wavering a little. "Look behind you."  
  
I looked around, but it was hard to see anything in the dim light. "Huh?"  
  
"Behind you, under the stairs."  
  
I then noticed a filthy looking rat, huddled underneath a scanty pile of old rags and newspapers. I'm not usually scared of rats, but the basement was a creepy enough place as it was, what with its weird lighting and all. "Aargh!" I yelled, and leapt back, causing me to crash into the edge of the table. I grit my teeth in pain while I calmed down and turned to Aaron. "It's just a *rat*!" I hissed. "And it's *asleep*! We'll get rid of it later."  
  
Aaron nodded tautly, and we returned to the game, although he kept darting neurotic glances at the rat. Pretty soon the score was 10-8 in my favour.   
  
"You know," I said as we played, pretending to contemplate the matter very seriously, "Maybe it's Wormtail."  
  
Aaron paused just as he was about to toss the ball to me. "*Wormtail?*" he exclaimed, incredulous.  
  
I nodded solemnly as I served the ball. "Why not?"  
  
Aaron shook his head as he executed his return. "That's stupid. Why would Wormtail be *here*?"  
  
"Why would Wormtail be here? In... Surrey? Where Harry Potter lives?"  
  
Aaron opened his mouth and shut it and opened it again. "C'mon. Harry Potter doesn't live here. Don't you remember? I've even searched the maps for Privet Drive and I couldn't find it. Besides, Mum said that Harry Potter doesn't exist."  
  
"Yeah, well, Mum said that Uncle Geoffrey's toenail collection didn't exist either."  
  
Aaron looked like he didn't have a reply to this.  
  
I casually glanced over my shoulder at the rat and told him "Check out his left paw. I think a toe's missing."  
  
"Shut up, Erica," he said. But I noticed that he seemed a lot more flustered. I marvelled once again at how incredibly guileless my brother could be sometimes.  
  
A few rallies later, the score was 16-9, in my favour. I walked around to Aaron's side of the room and gulped down half of his water from his bottle. He looked at the sleeping rat nervously again before turning to me and asking, "It *couldn't* be Wormtail, right?"  
  
"What do you think, Aaron?" I questioned solemnly.  
  
"Well, the new book *did* say that Wormtail had disappeared, and was hiding from the Ministry, while looking for Harry Potter, who's *supposed* to live around here..."  
  
I sighed. Maybe I shouldn't have let him read the fifth Harry Potter book without proper supervision. He took everything too seriously.  
  
Just then, the rat decided to wake up, scurrying around under the rags and newspapers, making quite a lot of noise. Aaron's face suddenly turned two shades paler, and I felt a slight twinge of guilt.   
  
"Relax," I said, although I couldn't resist whispering into his ear, "Maybe it's got the wrong address and thinks that he's stashed in that cupboard over there."  
  
Aaron stuck out his tongue at me. I grinned and returned to my side of the table. I felt even more uncomfortable playing there now, because of the constant awareness of a rat behind me under the stairs. However Aaron seemed to be a lot more frazzled than I was. I wondered what he was so worried about. It *was* just a rat. Aaron knew me better than to believe everything I said, and I'd never seem him this unnerved by a rodent before. Well, whatever it was that was bothering him, it secured me an easy victory in that game.   
  
Aaron looked at me pleadingly. "Could you please stay over there for the next game?"  
  
I shook my head. "The person who wins the toss gets to decide where they want to play."  
  
Aaron scowled at me, but I didn't give in. I wasn't trying to be mean just then, but frankly I wanted to get as far away from the rat as possible. Maybe it was just my brother's irrational nervousness rubbing off on me, but something about it gave me the creeps.  
  
I tossed the ball, and we played in mutinous silence. Aaron lost, and we stared at each other for a moment before I stonily walked around the table to his side.   
  
"Come on, Erica! I don't want to go there!" he whined.  
  
I threw up my hands. "Aaron, grow up! It's just a rat! So what if it *is* Peter Pettigrew in disguise?"  
  
"You are such a *Slytherin*!"  
  
The rat let out a loud squeal. We both whirled around to see it scamper up the stairs faster than we'd ever seen a rat move. Squeaking noisily, it darted through the doorway and disappeared.  
  
I turned around slowly to face Aaron, and I'm positive that his expression mirrored mine. For the first time in my life, I was speechless.   
  
Aaron looked dazed for a moment, and then croaked, "I think I'm going to have to search those maps again."  
  
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